company loyalty

Career mobility for a few does not make for better working conditions for the majority, that is certain. How does one create loyalty in a profession in which the majority of academics feel, for better and for worse trapped because of lack of jobs? Loyalty becomes another word for "submission." And it certainly does have some rewards.

One always has better control over employees when people feel as if they had no choice but to submit to the conditions of labor and this has never been more true for humanities Ph.D.'s. Real autonomy of thinking is so rare because the domination of the humanities through shortage of resources has been so effective.

When the NY Times goes through its yearly ritual of making fun of MLA panels, they don't see the real tragedy of all the Queering Literature panels -- it is the desperation of those who are trying to produce themselves as "new" and "relevant" for the powers that be.